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The final day of the Sydney racing carnival with four Group 1 races was overshadowed by an explosive interview with John Singleton where he declared the end of Australian racing’s most high profile relationships.
Singleton, one of Australia’s leading horse owners has been a mammoth player in Australian racing for over two decades.
The interview panned out live on Channel 7 after Singleton’s best horse, More Joyous, was comfortably beaten in the All Aged Stakes.
Singleton and Waterhouse have shared an owner-trainer relationship unrivalled by any in Australian racing which has repeatedly delivered Group 1 success.
After the race however, Singleton was livid when asked to comment about the future of his six year old mare who has won over $4.5million in prize money.
“She won’t be running again with Gai Waterhouse as trainer,” Singleton said.
Singleton issued concerns about information he had acquired from Waterhouse’s bookmaker son, Tom.
“When Gai’s son knows last night what the result will be today, there’s a conflict of interest.”
“I told her last night if she doesn’t win, she’ll be leaving.”
“I heard from her son that she’s got problems I don’t know about.”
“All my horses are leaving Gai’s tomorrow.”
Tom Waterhouse was given an opportunity to respond.
“I never said the horse had problems – I never knew the horse had problems,” Tom Waterhouse said.
“He says that kind of stuff to cause a bit of controversy.”
“They always kiss and make up so hopefully they will tomorrow.”
The Singleton-Waterhouse relationship appears irreparable after the two were seen in a heated argument after the race.
Singleton is Waterhouse’s largest client and the fallout will have commercial implications to both the Waterhouse stable and Tom’s bookmaking company.
Asked if he had a new trainer in mind for his horses, Singleton remained tight lipped. Given an opportunity to rethink his thoughts, Singleton confirmed his decision twenty minutes after he made his initial comments which he made immediately after the All Aged Stakes.
It is the end of one of the most high-profile relationships within the Australian racing industry and many trainers will be putting their hands up to train Singleton’s talented horses.
The fallout at the end of the day overshadowed what had been an excellent day of racing.
French import Reliable Man won the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes beating hot favourite It’s A Dundeel. After the race, Reliable Man then pulled up lame and was later diagnosed with a sprained off-fore.
Trainer Chris Waller was unable to speculate on the future of the import that was having just his second run in Australia but flagged immediate retirement a possibility for the stallion.
Peter Snowden trained Guelph claimed back to back Group 1 victories by winning the Champagne Stakes while Lloyd Williams owned Mourayan won the Sydney Cup after running seventh in last year’s Melbourne Cup.
In the final Group 1 of the day, All Too Hard made it three wins in a row by winning the All Aged Stakes.
It was confirmed after the race that All Too Hard would now prepare for the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in England before retiring to stud.
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